Written Answers Thursday 27 October 2005

Scottish Executive

Access for Disabled People

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made with the provision of access for disabled people at Haymarket Station in Edinburgh.

Tavish Scott: We are discussing plans for accessibility improvements at Haymarket Station with Network Rail and First ScotRail and hope to agree plans shortly for taking forward accessibility works at the station. In addition, the City of Edinburgh Council has received funding from the Executive to look at wider options for development at the station, including better disabled access.

Children (Scotland) Act 1995

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-15758 by Peter Peacock on 28 April 2005, whether, in light of recent announcements by the First Minister on a protocol between the Executive and the Home Office, it will now seek to ensure compliance by the Home Office or its contractors with the terms of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995.

Robert Brown: The Children (Scotland) Act 1995 does not place specific duties on the Home Office or on contractors who may be involved in the operation of Home Office facilities. The act places certain duties on local authorities relative to the provision of services to safeguard and promote the welfare for children in their area who are in need, except where disapplied by UK legislation.

  The First Minister has stated that Scottish children’s services should be involved in advance of removals of asylum seeker children with families and this is being taken forward as part of on-going work on the protocol.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that meat coming into Scotland is free from Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease prions.

Lewis Macdonald: Meat entering Scotland must come from an approved country and establishment which has food safety and hygiene standards compatible with European legislation. At the port of entry into the EU, documentary and physical checks may be undertaken on the boxed meat for presence of specified risk material (SRM) for BSE. Meat imported into the UK from other EU member states is checked at the point of destination for the presence of SRM.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has taken, or will take, steps to ensure that meat coming into Scotland comes from animals that have not been fed on bonemeal which may contain Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease prions.

Lewis Macdonald: All meat, imported into the EU, must come from an approved country and establishment to ensure that the food safety, hygiene standards and animal welfare standards are compatible with those in the EU. The European Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) undertakes inspections of the authorities of countries outwith the EU to check their standards.

  Regulation (EC) No. 999/2001 laying down the rules for prevention, control and eradication of certain TSEs came into force in 2001. It requires that meat imported into the EU be accompanied by a health certificate declaring that the product is free from Specified Risk Material (SRM) and mechanically recovered meat and that the method of slaughter used prevents contamination from SRM. Imports of meet from designated BSE-free countries are exempt from this requirement.

  In the EU, all intra-community trade has been subject to a permanent feed ban since 1 September 2003. It prohibits the feeding of processed animal protein to livestock kept for the production of food.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has undertaken, or will undertake, research into the pathologies of spongiform encephalopathies, and in particular the pathology of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy and its link with the new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, to determine the safety of meat imports for human consumption.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive is not currently funding any projects into the pathologies of spongiform encephalopathies. The Chief Scientists Office would be happy to look at any proposals for research.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has undertaken, or will undertake, research into links between bonemeal which may contain human remains and the pathologies of spongiform encephalopathies.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive is not currently funding any projects into the pathologies of spongiform encephalopathies. The Chief Scientists Office would be happy to look at any proposals for research.

Dentistry

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that the supply of places at Scotland's dental schools is sufficient to meet current demands.

Lewis Macdonald: The number of Scottish dental graduates is predicted to meet or exceed demand in Scotland from 2008.

Emergency Services

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what advice and guidance it has given to NHS Ayrshire and Arran with regard to its proposal to centralise emergency and unscheduled care services at Crosshouse Hospital.

Mr Andy Kerr: It is my understanding that what NHS Ayrshire and Arran are consulting on is not the centralisation but the localisation of unscheduled care services, with a full accident and emergency service at Crosshouse Hospital supported by a network of five community casualty facilities across the region.

  As to the advice offered, it is for NHS boards to plan and deliver services that best meet the needs of local people, subject to national frameworks and guidance.

  In all cases of proposed significant service change, NHS boards are expected to adhere to the guidance set out by the Executive on public engagement and consultation. This guidance - NHS Health Department Letter 42 (2002) - is available in full in the publications section of the NHS Scottish Health On the Web internet site.

Enterprise

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are being taken to support and encourage small rural businesses.

Allan Wilson: Support for small businesses, including those in rural areas, is primarily an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. There are a variety of schemes, and Scottish Enterprise provides a first stop one door access to support and advice through the Business Gateway, while in the Highlands and Islands area, the ten Local Enterprise Companies act as the single access point.

Health

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied with the progress of the Calder Advisory Group.

Mr Andy Kerr: Professor Calder and his group have a clear remit to work with the NHS Greater Glasgow to identify the most appropriate site for a new children’s hospital alongside adult and maternity services. That includes agreeing the board’s appraisal process and reviewing and approving the board’s results. I am satisfied that the group is carrying out its work in line with the remit and I look forward to receiving its advice once it has had time to consider NHS Greater Glasgow’s proposals.

Health

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what account it took of epidemiological studies into the links between cholesterol and dementia when framing guidance for doctors on cholesterol levels in patients.

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considered possible links between low cholesterol and dementia when framing policy on the use of statins.

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to research showing that high cholesterol in later life can be associated with a decreased risk of dementia.

Lewis Macdonald: An article in The Lancet last month stated that cholesterol reducing statins may be useful in delaying or preventing the onset of dementia. I am also aware of the research (published by Dr. Thomas D. Rea et al at the University of Washington in July 2005 in the Archives of Neurology) which did not find sufficient evidence that statin use reduced the risk of dementia. The abstract of this research can be found at http://archneur.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/62/7/1047 .

  High cholesterol is one of the key risk factors for chronic heart disease (CHD). Statins are widely used to reduce cholesterol for patients who are at particularly high risk of developing heart disease. Evidence based guidelines on lipids and the primary prevention of CHD were issued by the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network in September 1999.

International Development

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide the names of and background information on, the members of the Scotland-Malawi projects.

Patricia Ferguson: The Scottish Executive received almost 100 applications for the first round of its International Development Fund and a rigorous evaluation process has taken place to determine which ones should be supported.

  We are in the process of informing applicants whether their bids have been successful. When this has been done, appropriate information will be published on the Scottish Executive’s internet site.

International Development

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been (a) spent on or (b) allocated to the Scotland-Malawi projects, broken down by project or service.

Patricia Ferguson: I refer the member to the questions S2W-16849 answered on 8 June 2005 and S2W-19560 answered on 27 October 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

NHS Staff

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how many vacancies exist for junior physiotherapy posts.

Mr Andy Kerr: Information on vacancies for junior physiotherapy posts is not held centrally. However, the total number of vacancies for qualified physiotherapists within NHS Scotland at the 31 March 2005 is 95 whole-time equivalent posts. Of these, 69.3 have been vacant for less than three months, 21.7 for more than three months and four vacancies have unknown duration. The over three month vacancies equate to 1% of the qualified physiotherapy establishment.

Oil and Gas Industry

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to maximise the economic and job opportunities that will flow from oil and gas exploration and exploitation on the west coast of Scotland in the next 10 years.

Allan Wilson: Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Development International continue to work with the industry to maximise opportunities for Scotland.

  The Scottish Executive will also continue to participate in PILOT, the joint industry and government programme, to secure a long-term future for the sector in the UK as a whole.

Scottish Executive Procurement

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many small and medium-sized enterprises won public procurement contracts in each year since 1999, expressed also as a percentage of total contracts awarded.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive does not hold this information centrally and therefore could only provide this information at disproportionate cost.

Scottish Water

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scottish Water has paid any compensation to businesses for loss of earnings resulting from delayed completion of works.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scottish Water has made any ex gratia payments to businesses for loss of earnings and inconvenience as a result of delayed completion of works.

Rhona Brankin: This is a matter for Scottish Water. I have forwarded your inquiry to Scottish Water’s Chief Executive and asked him to write to you.

Waste Management

Chris Ballance (South of Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that SEPA has sufficient powers and resources to ensure the safe and legal disposal of sewage sludge to land.

Rhona Brankin: Yes.

Waste Management

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what proposals it has for the disposal of sewage sludge and other municipal waste, in particular in respect of further support for energy projects offering disposal solutions.

Rhona Brankin: Scottish Water is responsible for dealing with sewage sludge; local authorities have a similar responsibility for municipal waste. In both cases, the Scottish Executive supports recovery and recycling where this can be done satisfactorily.

Waste Management

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how plans are progressing for the disposal of sewage after December 2005.

Ross Finnie: Scottish Water and, where relevant, contractors acting on its behalf, are responsible for the disposal of sewage sludge.

  I understand that Scottish Water is in the process of updating its sludge strategy, and that it intends to consult on a strategic environmental assessment of it shortly.